


try not to

by sodelicate



Series: volley boys and music [3]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Bromance, Dorks, Gen, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Music, Team Bonding, akaashi is still suffering, like it's mostly gen with some teases of romance, try not to sing along challenge, very slight teased romance?, volleyball dorks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-10
Updated: 2018-11-10
Packaged: 2019-08-21 10:34:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16574789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sodelicate/pseuds/sodelicate
Summary: Just five songs. All they have to do is not sing or dance along to any of the five songs, and they would be declared winner.Easier said than done.





	try not to

**Author's Note:**

> this fic was inspired by the ‘Try Not to Sing’ Challenge on YouTube — specifically, the one on the [FBE channel](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLYppjjj8bU).

No one is exactly sure whose idea it is, but everyone is down for it, surprisingly. Even some of their more detached members, like Tsukishima. They suspect he just wants to win and have something to hold over Hinata and Kageyama. Most of all, they're surprised Takeda-sensei has approved of this idea, considering the disasters — yes, plural — that happened the last time the Karasuno boys had access to music. 

“So, if you've been on the Internet, you know the rules,” Daichi says. “No singing, no lip-syncing, no moving.”

“Not even this?” Hinata wiggles his fingers to demonstrate. 

“Which part of ‘no moving’ did you not get?” Tsukishima sneers, and Hinata glares at him. 

“No. Moving,” Daichi reiterates, looking specifically at some of his more fidgety teammates. 

“Hitoka-chan and I have composed a playlist for this game, and we will be monitoring your progress,” Kiyoko announces. “Five songs, on shuffle.” 

“Um, do your best!” Yachi smiles encouragingly at the boys. She's secretly relieved she doesn't have to play. She doubts she’d win, anyway.

The boys gather in a loose circle around their managers. According to the rules everyone is positive Daichi made up on the spot, they're supposed to stand so it’s easy for Kiyoko and Yachi to catch anyone moving. _Not_ like any of them have any intention of moving. They all came to win. This is Serious Business, as Nishinoya would heartily declare, if he weren't so focused on the prospect of victory.

Behind them, Coach Ukai watches in interest. This should prove interesting. He decides to unofficially join, confident that he would emerge victorious, since he's mostly unfamiliar with Teen Music (other than the few unfortunate earworms still stuck in his head —  _damn_ Nishinoya and his obsession with western pop).

Kiyoko hits the play button on her teal iPod.

And to no one’s surprise, Noya is the first one to bow out.

But what _is_ surprising is the song that causes his loss.

“It’s not even a western song,” Suga says, mystified. “Do you even know it?”

He's right. Currently, _Imagination_ by Spyair is pouring out through the speakers, and it seems like a few of them are familiar with the song. For instance, Hinata is struggling to hold still, if only because he would dearly like to beat Kageyama. The two of them glare at each other out of the corner of their eyes, daring the other to make a move first.

“Just ‘cause I don't know a song doesn't mean I'm not gonna have some fun!” Noya shouts, now backed out of the circle.

“Clearly, I didn't need to include quite so many Taylor Swift and Fifth Harmony songs,” Kiyoko muses quietly. 

Tanaka, seeing that Noya is no longer in the game, starts bopping his head to the beat too. 

“Tanaka-senpai, you're moving,” Yachi calls out apologetically. 

“Ryuu, what the hell?” Noya demands indignantly. “You totally could’ve lasted through that one!”

“I know, bro, but there's no point in playing if _you're_ not in the game anymore,” Tanaka says, all solemn and heartfelt. 

Nishinoya pauses his enthusiastic limb-flailing, and his eyes well up with tears. “ _Bro_ …”

Tanaka exits the circle to join Noya, and the two share a manly hug. Those two… No one will ever be able to fathom their bromance. 

 _Imagination_ fades out, and it’s replaced by a J-pop bop. Yachi bites her lip, desperately trying to control herself. If she were in the privacy of her bedroom, she would be using her hairbrush as a microphone and she’d be head-banging and whipping her hair back and forth — and she’d quickly duck under her bed when her mother eventually comes in to investigate the racket. Yeah, it probably is for the best that she's not at home right now. Besides, it wouldn't be fair to the boys — who have to stay stock still all while the songs are playing — if she could dance and sing along just because she's technically not playing. 

Some of the boys don't have her self-restraint. This one takes out Asahi (Suga still thinks Asahi looks far too intimidating to be unironically nodding his head to the peppy and glitzy beat of J-pop), Yamaguchi and Narita. 

To everyone's surprise, _Tsukishima_ is the next to fall, all thanks to a song from the _Jurassic Park_ soundtrack. 

“ _You_ , Tsukishima?!” Hinata exclaims gleefully.

Tsukishima stares down at Hinata with a cold, imperious stare. “If you had any taste, you’d be out of the circle too.” 

Hinata sticks out his tongue at his fellow middle blocker. “Nuh uh! I'm gonna win, Loser-shima!” 

Tsukishima sniffs disdainfully. “I'd like to see you try.” 

An OLDCODEX song blares out next, triumphing over Daichi, Suga and Kinoshita. The three of them bond over their newfound shared love for the rock band, while the rest of the team marvels at the fact that Hinata and Kageyama are still holding on. Currently, the only ones left are the first-year freak duo and Ennoshita — and Ukai. He insists on counting himself, if only because he’s confident he can win this. He can't believe this is his life now, that he is competing over some silly Internet challenge with his volleyball boys. But it matters not, for he _will_ triumph— 

 _“I HEAR THE DRUMS ECHOING TONIGHT._  

 _BUT SHE HEARS ONLY WHISPERS OF SOME QUIET CONVERSAAAATION.”_  

“GODDAMMIT!” Ukai, Kageyama and Hinata burst out furiously the moment they all simultaneously catch themselves lip-syncing to the opening line of _Africa_ by Toto. 

Everyone else stares quizzically at their coach (with the exception of Hinata and Kageyama, who are busy fighting over who lost to _Africa_ first).

“Coach, _you_ were playing too?” Noya asks delightedly. 

“C’mon, why didn't you say anything earlier?” Tanaka adds with equal mirth. “Kiyoko and Yacchan could’ve thrown in some oldies for you!” 

“Shut up, I'm not that old,” Ukai snaps, rather hypocritically, he admits. “I'm barely a decade older than all of you. Go do some flying falls!”

“ _Coach!_ ”

“Wait,” Kinoshita says, counting the number of people left inside the circle — excluding the managers — and comes to a conclusion of sorts. “Does that mean…?”

“I win,” Ennoshita says, sounding more relieved than triumphant. “I’ll admit, the _Jurassic Park_ one was hard to get through.” 

“Whoa, talk about a dark horse,” Suga remarks, impressed. “Congrats.” 

“But you did! You won, and that's what makes you badass, Chikara!” Noya booms, thumping his fellow second-year on the back. “Not even Daichi-san or Tsukishima could last all five songs.” 

“At least _I_ didn't lose at the first song, _and_ one that I didn't know,” Tsukishima snickers. 

Daichi merely groans at Noya’s (probably) unintentional double entendre. He seems to be making plenty of those, what with his initial comment about ‘plugging it in and _making_ you like it’ — no, nope, Daichi will _not_ think about the strange things his kouhai likes to say. He's very glad to be graduating soon. 

Narita scrolls through Kiyoko’s iPod. “Huh, you got lucky, Chikara. There’s some Studio Ghibli in here — that would’ve wrecked you.” 

“Ah, damn it,” Ennoshita says mildly. “I definitely would’ve lost if that played.”

Regardless of the fact that Ennoshita only won largely due to luck, Takeda and Ukai exchange impressed looks. It’s decided, then: after the Spring High, Ennoshita _has_ to be captain.

 

* * *

 

To everyone’s surprise, cool, strict and stoic Iwaizumi is the first to fall.

“You're kidding,” Mattsun, who composed the playlist, says amazedly. “I didn't think anyone here _actually_ listened to Swedish rock.”

Iwaizumi shrugs and raises his eyebrows. “ _You_ must, since you were the one who made the playlist in the first place.”

“Dude, no, that's all my bro. He's into Swedish everything, pretty much.”

“I can't believe Iwa-chan lost so easily!” Oikawa chimes in gleefully. 

Iwaizumi rolls his eyes. “Don't get so cocky, Shittykawa. You still have four more songs to get through.” 

He sincerely hopes Oikawa loses, just so they're somewhat even, because a victorious Oikawa — especially over Iwaizumi, who has triumphed over him in many other endeavours, such as arm-wrestling and the number of abs he has — would be a total pain in the ass to deal with. 

The second, third and fourth songs pass without much event, other than Matsukawa losing to some obscure trap song.

But then the fifth song plays.

It’s pretty well known that the Aoba Johsai boys’ volleyball club has a weakness to bubblegum pop. The language of origin doesn't matter — if it has a fun, upbeat tune, you can bet most of the members would be aggressively jamming to the song. 

To their credit, they _try_ to hold themselves back. Everyone can see the way Kindaichi’s face is strained, like he's badly constipated, the way Makki has his hands stuffed into his pockets, and the way Yahaba is muttering “Sad puppies, sad puppies, sad puppies” repeatedly under his breath. 

And who should be the first to lose to bubblegum pop, but _Kyoutani_? Everyone watches, stunned, as the grumpy — and occasionally, downright frightening — second-year starts swaying around to the beat, seeming clueless to the world around him except for the music.

Well, if someone as hardass as _Kyoutani_ has admitted defeat to bubblegum pop, then the rest figure it’s fine if they throw in the towel too. 

Well, most of them, that is.

Kunimi really can't be ass-ed to care about this stupid challenge. He’d really rather be at home, but since it was his senpai’s idea of one final bonding session before the Spring High Preliminaries, he let himself get dragged into the team’s shenanigans. Now that the ordeal is over, he would _really_ like to go home, thank you very much. 

But he can't, because first, he has to listen to his mature, level-headed, respectable captain brag about winning like a kid who got the last piece of candy.

“ _I_ _WON!_ ” Oikawa crows, bouncing up and down so high Kunimi wonders if he's been taking lessons from Karasuno’s Number Ten. “I have proven superior! I have successfully asserted my dominance in every field! I have—” 

“Yes, we get the idea, you turd,” Iwaizumi snaps. “ _Now_ can we go back to doing productive things, like actually training for the upcoming tournament?!” 

“No, Iwa-chan, you don't understand!” Oikawa insists delightedly. “This is such a monumental moment, a _colossal_ victory for me! Now all that's left is to beat Ushiwaka’s ass at this, and I would’ve truly peaked!”

Iwaizumi’s eyebrow twitches with irritation, and the teammates who aren't too dumb to live hastily back away. “If you don't get off your stupid high horse right this moment, I swear I’ll show everyone your naked baby photos.” 

“Pfft, I can't believe you think that's an effective threat. Everyone knows what an _adorable_ baby I was—” 

“Oh really?” Iwaizumi smiles a dark, sinister smile that tells tales of unspeakable sadism. “Then you’re fine with me showing _that_ one your mother took on the fifth of April, when we were two and we were in the tub, and man, from that angle you could really see how your—” 

“ _NO!_ ” Oikawa screeches, horrified. He leaps over the ball cart — an impressive feat — and slaps a hand over Iwaizumi’s mouth before he can let anything else out that could completely wreck Oikawa’s reputation. “I'm sorry, Iwa-chan! I’m sorry, I will never speak of this ever again, just please promise me you'll _never ever_ show that horrendous photo to anyone!” 

Even with his mouth concealed behind Oikawa’s hand, everyone can still see Iwaizumi’s smirk in his eyes. 

It’s funny. Even though it is technically Oikawa’s (and Kunimi’s) win, everyone can't help but feel like it is Iwaizumi who has emerged victorious in the end. 

“Married?” Hanamaki snickers quietly. 

“Definitely,” Matsukawa replies, smirking.

 

* * *

 

 _This really has been a disaster from the beginning,_ Akaashi grumbles to himself as he watches his wreck of a captain have yet another breakdown on the gym floor.

He glares at Komi, who was the one who came up with the idea in the first place. “I hope you realise this is _your_ fault, Komi-san,” he hisses to the shameless libero.

Komi just shrugs. “Not my fault he’s a complete sucker for Disney songs.” 

“I heard that!” Bokuto wails, pounding his fists on the floor. So much dust is gathering on his training attire, Akaashi figures there wouldn't be much cleaning to do later — of the floors, anyway. This mess, on the other hand… “I'm such a loser! I can't believe I lost at the first song — what kind of loser loses on the _first_ song?!” 

“Bokuto-san,” Akaashi says evenly, because even if this isn't his fault, it’s still his mess to clean up in the end. He takes care not to glare at the third-year ~~traitors~~ senpai. “Please calm down. This is just a small, trivial game. There are no real stakes here, so please refrain from making such a big fuss over this.”

“You don't understand, AKAAAASHEEE!” Bokuto whines. “It’s _not_ just a small, trivial game. It’s a test of grit, perseverance and manliness! I _have_ to prove my masculinity, or I'm not fit to call myself the Ace!”

Shirofuku rolls her eyes. “All this hyper-masculinity in this gym is suffocating. Kaori-chan, let’s go get some watermelons.”

And the two girls scamper out of the gym, presumably to avoid being roped into dealing with Bokuto’s meltdown. Akaashi tries not to feel too irritated at the managers’ betrayal.

Bokuto sniffs pathetically. “If I can't even win a small game like this, what good would I be on the court? I should just quit volleyball and make a new life for myself in Nigeria…”

“First Egypt, now Nigeria? What are you, going on a tour around Africa?” Konoha mutters.

Akaashi glares at him. _Not helpful,_ he mouths.

Konoha just shrugs in response, irking Akaashi even more.

He sighs. This calls for a Section 322A, Code 56-Jade. “Bokuto-san, you can take my spot. I'm not all that inclined to participating in this game, anyway.”

Bokuto’s face lights up so instantaneously, it kinda scares Akaashi. “Really, AKGAHHSHEE?!”

Akaashi really wishes Bokuto would learn to properly pronounce his name soon, preferably before graduation. “Yes, Bokuto-san. After all,” he adds, “the Ace deserves a second chance to redeem himself.”

Bokuto launches himself off the floor and at his setter, choking him in his eager embrace. Akaashi tries not to inhale, since Bokuto is still covered in dust. The third-years snicker and snap pictures of them, probably sharing them on the team Snapchat.

“Ha, of course!” Bokuto laughs. “I am the best, after all! Thanks, AKJGAAASHEEE!” 

He's covered in dust and dirt, thanks to his mess of a captain, and the third-years are still laughing at them, but the brilliant smile on Bokuto’s face sort of makes it all worth it, Akaashi thinks. 

“ _Whipped!_ ” Komi sings teasingly to Akaashi, once Bokuto is out of earshot.

Only respect for his senpai keeps Akaashi from glaring at the libero. He can't wait for the third-years to graduate; maybe _then_ he would stop suffering.

 

* * *

 

“Kuroo, why are we doing a ‘Try Not to Sing Along’ challenge?” Yaku asks suspiciously. “And where’d you even get that idea from?”

Kuroo just smirks, and Yaku knows that's definitely not a good thing. “Team bonding is important to enhance our cohesiveness as a unit, Yaku-paisen,” he drawls. “And give me some credit, man, I can be marvelously creative when I want to be.”

“You saw the texts Shouyou sent me, didn't you?” Kenma says, not looking up from his game console.

“Hush, child, I don't know what you're talking about.”

“You totally saw Shouyou’s texts.”

“No, I didn't.” 

“Yes, you did.” 

“No, I didn't.” 

“Yes, you did.” 

“So, are we gonna play, or are you two gonna continue arguing like an old married couple?” Yaku asks.

“Jeez, fine, so impatient,” Kuroo says, smoothly dodging the ‘old married couple’ remark (Kenma just rolls his eyes; as if anyone would want to be married to _Kuroo_ ). “Gather around, kids, I need to explain the rules. So—”

“The name of the challenge is pretty self-explanatory, Kuro,” Kenma points out, still sitting a ways away from the circle around Kuroo. “‘Try Not to Sing Along’. It’s exactly what it says on the tin.” 

Kuroo maintains his easy smirk. “Dude, stop ruining my moments like, ‘Oh, it’s just A and B and C’. Sometimes I just wanna add on fancy embellishments ‘cause I want to.” 

“And the rest of us have been on the Internet, we know what this challenge is,” Yaku adds. 

Kuroo sighs exasperatedly. Honestly, does no one respect his authority as team captain? (Okay, maybe he's exaggerating. Only Kenma and Yaku challenge his authority, Kenma because he has immunity as the childhood best friend, and Yaku because he's… well, Yaku.) 

“That means Kenma can't play,” Yamamoto says. When he sees Kuroo’s smirk shift into something harder and colder at the insinuation of excluding his best friend, he hastens to add, “C’mon, Captain, you _know_ he’d win for sure! His poker face is nothin’ like I've ever seen before!”

“I… suppose that makes sense,” Kuroo grudgingly admits. He knows better than anyone else how good Kenma’s poker face is.

“And I don't wanna play anyway,” Kenma says. He’s so close to beating the Elite Four and advancing to the Champion — he's not going to stop now just for some stupid, trivial Internet challenge.

“Fair enough. C’mon, the rest of you, put on your non-singing-and-dancing pants on, and let’s _play_.”

Coach Nekomata excuses himself to the bathroom. Unlike Keishin, he _really_ can't stomach Teen Music. And this sounds like there's going to be loads of Teen Music.

The first song passes without anyone being struck out, but the second song brings about their first 'casualty': Fukunaga. 

“Weird Al, dude? Seriously?” Yamamoto asks, raising his eyebrows. 

Fukunaga shrugs. “Hey, can't say no to Weird Al.” 

Everyone knows Fukunaga has a strange sense of humour, so they leave it at that.

The third song is a catchy Ariana Grande single that instantly eliminates Yaku, Kai and most of the first-years — with exception of Lev, who promptly loses at the next song, a K-pop one.

“Since when did _you_ listen to K-pop?” Yaku asks incredulously.  

“Hinata introduced me!” Lev answers, all bright and chipper. “He has really good taste!” 

Inuoka nods his agreement, while Kenma just sighs. Clearly, the rest of them don't have to endure Shouyou incessantly sending them random K-pop lyrics (as well as lyrics from Toto’s _Africa_ ). 

Yamamoto throws in the towel in the fourth round when Ed Sheeran’s  _Perfect_ starts playing. He bawls into his hands as he warbles along to the song. You see, as an avid fan of Ed Sheeran, he Googled the Japanese translation for the lyrics of _Perfect_ when the song was released. And when he realised what the lyrics meant, he couldn't stop crying.

“IT’S SUCH A BEAUTIFUL SONG!” Yamamoto sobbed as he played _Perfect_ on repeat one day, before practice.

“Yes, we heard you the first fifty times, Tora,” Kenma muttered impassively.

“NO, YOU DON'T GET IT!” Yamamoto insisted, barely coherent through his blubbering. “IT’S A BEAUTIFUL LOVE SONG HE WROTE FOR HIS _FIANC_ _ÉE_. IT’S SO SWEET AND ROMANTIC AND SOFT AND I HAVE SO MANY FEELINGS RIGHT NOW.”

In the present, Kuroo lets out a long-suffering sigh as Yamamoto passionately alternates between bellowing the lyrics and rambling about the “MASSIVE AMOUNT OF FEELINGS THIS SONG GIVES ME”. Who knew such an intimidating-looking guy with a _mohawk_ would be such a hopeless romantic?

Kuroo is the only one left, but he doesn't last long either. 

All thanks to _Nyan Cat_. 

Kuroo bursts out laughing his infamous hyena laugh, as he (completely ironically, he assures you) chants along to _Nyan Cat_. 

Kenma shakes his head, disappointed in his best friend. “I thought you could do better, Kuro.”

“Oh, like you won't lose to the allure of _Nyan Cat?_ ” Kuroo counters.

“I won't.” 

“You so will.”

“I won't.”

“You so will.”

At the end of the day, no one in Nekoma wins, but hey, they all got to enjoy their favourite songs, so they file that away as victory of its own.

Oh, and Kenma beats the Champion.

All is well in the Nekoma boys’ volleyball club.

 

* * *

 

In Johzenji, they're all about having fun. _Simplicity and Fortitude_ , who? Not for these boys —  _they're_ the real life of the party.

And that's how a ‘Try Not to Sing Along’ challenge somehow turns into a massive dance rave.

“TURN IT UP, CAPTAIN!”

“HELL YEAH!”

“THIS IS LIT, BRO!”

“I KNOW RIGHT, BRO! PUMP THIS SHIT UP!”

Misaki sighs, but for once she doesn't intervene. After all the training and hard work (in their own way) they have put into volleyball, they deserve to let their hair down and have some real fun.

Even if she thinks their fun is going to warrant a complaint from the principal.

Speaking of which… is that the principal she spots approaching the gym with a furious scowl on his face? She glances at the partying volleyball players and briefly considers warning them.

 _You know what, some things are better learned the hard way,_ she decides.

Instead, she grabs Runa-chan, and the two managers surreptitiously sneak out of the gym. The boys can deal with this mess on their own.

**Author's Note:**

> songs and artists referenced in this one-shot: Imagination by Spyair (the first opening theme of Haikyuu), the Jurassic Park soundtrack, OLDCODEX, Africa by Toto, Weird Al, Ariana Grande, Perfect by Ed Sheeran and Nyan Cat. and the part where the Seijoh boys lost to bubblegum pop was inspired by this [text-post I saw on Pinterest](https://www.pinterest.com/pin/776871004446661017/).
> 
> this was a ton of fun to write, so thanks for reading!
> 
> [catch me on tumblr](https://hqissodelicate.tumblr.com/post/180269093117/bokuaka-soulmates-au)


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